These Days
by BeehiveOneThreeZer0
Summary: Sequel to Every Day


These Days

Sequel to the innocent fiction "every day"

Since people were so enamored with it (not ONE even 'rawr' review and I messed up the grammar SO much!) I decided to honor my lovely reviews (and Blue) with a sequel.

This is a couple months after school started.

"Axel?" I looked over to the soft voice lying beside me. Roxas still lived with Red and me, despite his brother coming home and all, not that I minded. Red was in college now, always bitching about Math and not having any time to sleep between her sessions of studying.

"Hm?"

He turned his head to face me, "why did you join cheerleading?"

"What kind of question is that?" I chuckled, not wanting to admit it. Maybe I would get lucky and badger him out of it.

"You don't strike me as the bouncing and screaming for a team kind of guy, so why'd you do it?"

I sat up, towering over him again. "No."

He tilted his head to the side and pouted and dammit lord it was the cutest thing. I almost caved… almost.

"No Roxas."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeease?" He drug out the word like a little kid wanting icecream, he was just so damn cute sometimes. "Why won't you tell me?"

"It's embarrassing enough that I _am _a cheerleader."

His lips twisted to one side for a moment before he hopped up next to me, laying his head against my shoulder. I smiled at him in spite of myself. "You know, I can just go ask Red."

I tensed, "alright FINE."

He bounced up and looked excited, "no lies."

I sighed heavily, he caught me _again _that little blonde DICK. "One of these days Roxas… one of these days."

"You'll eventually get around to telling me why you became a gay ass cheerleader."

"At least _I _wasn't in a skirt."

"That was low," he said with a soft glare. "Cold Axel, real cold. Now spill it."

I ran a hand through my hair, "Once upon a time, there was a disgruntled teen redhead super senior stuck in fucking pep rally. He saw a girl he liked and decided to be creepy and stalk her. The end."

There was a pause. "That's it?"

"Pretty much," I said nodding.

Another pause. "I'm asking Red," he rose to a stand but I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.

"Fine fine, I'll tell you every mushy gooey gay ass rainbow-riffic detail."

He matched his blue eyes with my green with a cocky grin. Bastard. "It better not start with 'once upon a time' either." I ignored the insult to my story telling skills.

"Remember the tryouts? The pep rally before it, do you remember that?"

He nodded, "Riku got mobbed for his shirt."

"That was the first time I ever saw you."

His head tilted his head and I realized how gay I sounded, not that it should matter how gay it sounded anymore, I am gay now after all. But for some reason supporting the 'gay people talk like fruits all the time' thing irritates me.

"I don't know what the hell happened, but I think I went insane," I thought for a moment and then opened my nightstand, pulling out my black hardback, spiral bound sketchbook I got on sale for nine bucks at Barnes and Nobles. "See?" I flipped open to the picture I had drawn so long ago. It still looked flawless, and was my best work.

Roxas took the picture into his small hands and looked it over, "you hired someone to draw me?"

"Worse, _I_ drew it. You looked like that, to the last non-anime detail when I saw you."

He tapped his thumb against the paper, examining it and continuing to listen to my explanation.

"That was the last straw, you invaded my sketch book, I had to do something to get close to you, and so I joined up."

"You joined because you wanted to meet me?"

"And for the first three months I didn't do too well, now did I?"

"That's because you're an idiot," he mused with a grin, kissing me on the cheek before he looked the picture over again.

I rolled my eyes at the comment, plugging in the Playstation 2 and hooking up the movie Psuedo-Cide. Current saving up to get: 358/2 days and a Playstation 3.

Roxas didn't put that sketch down for a moment, his blue eyes scanning every stroke of ink on the paper. He only put it aside to curl up with me and watch the movie until he eventually fell asleep. I could hear Red meandering around, her music from her room, and the people in the apartment when I turned the movie off, getting groggy myself after another hour of it. I put an arm around Roxas's shoulders and dozed off, another lazy day on another lazy Saturday.

I woke up the smell of Roxas's hair, he had completely snuggled up to me, my arm still loosely around him, but his face pressed into my chest and inhaling the scent of my shirt clenched in tight fists. I wondered what he was dreaming about when a small whimper escaped his deep slumber. I soothed him until his hold on my shirt relaxed, remaining there until he woke up. I was immobilized and couldn't do anything but day dream, so I created a likely scenario of Sunday and Monday.

It was the usual, wake up, push Roxas off the bed so he'd get his lazy ass up. Corn Pop, Cheerios, or Fruit Loops, far too many decisions for one household's cereal. I'd go to school, Red would pick up Roxas and I'd go to work. Same old same old. Red had a morning job, I had an evening, and we were off Sundays and Mondays. We pulled in a decent amount, and Squall sent checks to support Roxas in case we needed it.

Life's good. Few complaints.

Roxas made a soft noise and slowly regained his consciousness. "Ax?"

"Hey," I said softly as a greeting, "How'd you sleep?"

He sat up, yawning softly and rubbing his eyes, "Alright. How long was I out?"

I glanced at a clock, I had to be at work in a while… "Couple hours."

He frowned, "Sorry."

"It's alright, I like being a pillow. You talk in your sleep," I teased. Partially true, he made cute noises; occasionally he got a choppy version of a word or name. I caught him saying mine a few time, I got this nice, warm fuzzy feeling from it.

"I do not," he argued weakly.

I smiled and rolled off the bed, "I gotta get ready…"

He nodded and I walked out of the room. Within about thirty minutes I was ready; I grabbed the car keys and pocketed them. I didn't want to get my ass chewed for being late… again. Roxas watched me, in nothing but socks, one of my button up shirts, and a pair of gray shorts. "Look okay?" I asked him.

Roxas looked me up and down and nodded, he always liked the uniform. I was a bouncer at a local club, so I was clad in black. Nothing but black and the occasional chain… seriously: black shirt, zipper trench coat, shirt, boots, gloves, and socks. I had an earpiece put in and they made me tie my hair back in a rough ponytail. I actually looked pretty damn good like this. Roxas smiled widely, "Sexy." Apparently he agreed.

I couldn't resist the smile and walked up to him, pulling him into a warm embrace and kissing his hair. I pulled away from him with a soft, "I'll be back in the morning," but he grabbed my sleeve and held me back. "Something wrong?"

He shook his head and perched on his toes to kiss me roughly on the lips. "Be careful."

"Roxas? You okay?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine, I just got this weird feeling. Take care of yourself."

I bit my lip and nodded. "You sure? I can call in sick…"

"You don't have the leave time," he argued, giving me this big starry eyed look that kinda worried me.

"I'll make time."

"And get fired. Just go Sexyback, I'll be here waiting for you when you come home…" He kissed me on the cheek; I lingered back for a second. "Go on, you'll be late."

I looked at my watch and cursed. Rushing out with an 'I love you', I got in my car and began the ten minute drive while listening to whatever came on the radio. I got annoyed when I all I could find that was even halfway decent was 'Unknown Soldier' by Breaking Benjamin. I was thinking about how much Red loved this song, she knew every line. I couldn't help the urge to sing along some, but I also couldn't shake what Roxas had said. The 'I just have a weird feeling'… what kind of weird feeling? Roxas doesn't normally kiss like that. It was rough… to the point of desperation.

The light turned green and I accelerated forward, nothing unusual. The unusual thing that drew me out of my musings was the sound of a tire screech, my eyes widened in panic as I saw the headlights, then the body of a car sliding directly toward me… In one spilt second before the world went black to the lyrics, "So I can leave this world behind"…. It was like a goodbye… a last kiss…

Roxas…..

XX-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-XX-x---ROXAS---x-XX-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-XX

I was wide awake. It was 4 in the morning.

Axel was 3 hours late.

Why is Axel late? He's never late coming home. And he's not answering his phone. Red's awake too, sitting on the couch with me as I channel flip nervously while trying to figure out what's supposed to be a basic chemistry formula but to her is advanced calculus. She's never been good with numbers. She came in here to keep me company, noticing my nerves. Red knows Axel better than to come home late, it's simply not like him. She's worried too…. But I know her well enough to try and not show it, but by the amount of effort it's taking her to even comprehend things she's memorized in the past, I know she's distracted.

I JUMPED on the phone when it rang, Red even looked surprised by my rigid but completely still posture suddenly vanishing as I nearly tackled the phone off its stand across the room. I answered the phone and was instantly disappointed by the sound of an unrecognized, firm and serious voice. He asked for Red Taylor and I handed her the cordless phone. She gratefully took the savior from her studies and greeted the speaker happily. I watched as her frown suddenly vanished, unable to make out the voice.

"You're kidding me… right? This is a joke."

A pause, her brows drawing together and running her loose hand through her hair.

"Oh my god," her voice broke slightly and I shook my head. "There's got to be some mistake…. You're lying." She covered her mouth with her hand and tried to look strong for me.

No. Nonononono… If Duncan or Nathan got hit by a speeding train, she'd just break down into tears, she wouldn't be in denial. There are very few people she would look like that over… Red's very down to earth about events, takes them as they come and accepts it with a grudging curse word if she doesn't like it.

"We'll be there in a few minutes."

She hung up on a voice, not caring to hear what they said after that. She dropped her books on the table and looked at me. "We're leaving."

I nodded weakly and put a pair of shoes on, numbly following Red out the door and getting in the car. She hesitated to start the car and I briefly wondered what happened. She shook her head some and started the engine to her 1990 Cadillac. I turned on the music; she seemed completely absorbed into the road, until she abruptly stabbed the power button when the soft voice of Carrie Underwood sang the words, "This can't be happening to me, this is just a dream."

I didn't try again, scared to death when she pulled into a hospital parking lot. I recognized the building, the smells, and I hated them still. She hesitated again after parking to get out, but bit her lip and got out with me. We walked inside, she put a hand on my back to reassure me. "Be strong Roxas."

I wondered what she meant by that.

In a few numbed out moments I was standing over Axel's body, he was alive. He was breathing.

But he wasn't waking up.

There was no smile, there was no soft voices, there was nothing to reassure me at all.

I hate cars. I always had since my parents died. And now Axel was nearly taken away by one too.

I fucking hate cars.

Red was talking with the doctor; I pulled up a chair and put my hand over Axels. There was no response to my gentle grip. I started crying.

Why did this happen? Why do bad things always happen to me? I managed to survive_ cancer_. I had this dreading feeling I wouldn't be so lucky this time. People had already been taken from me by fucking cars.

"Don't leave me here," I begged in a whisper. "Please don't leave me here…"

Red snapped at the doctor before wrapping her arms around me, my hand wouldn't leave Axels unless they had a crowbar, but I returned her embrace with my free one; squeezing her arm in my cold fingers.

I skipped school for three days before Squall intervened. He told me it was good for me to leave for a while, but I argued with all I had, but Squall knew how to push my buttons and I wound up back in the torture chamber they call a classroom.

Kitty, Yuffie, Yuna, Amanda, and Larxene had graduated. Leaving behind Tifa, Rikku, Kairi, and Riku. They tried to reassure me, but it weren't doing very well. They just made me more aware that Axel was missing. It was Sora who managed to help me out. He dragged me into a new group that hadn't a clue what was going on other than what Sora had told them; Hayner, Pence and Olette all looked overjoyed to meet me. They were only told to not mention any redheads, cars, car wrecks, sickness, or hospitals. It was hardest for Olette, who was studying to be a nurse and couldn't mention half of her class work and schedule… but she managed.

Red stayed with Axel, threatening to quit her job, and doing her college online with some friends recording the lectures for her. She, oddly, did better in school than ever before. When he hadn't woke up in two weeks, and doctors weren't optimistic. I stayed with Squall, avoiding Axel's smell and empty presence at the apartment. I tried to keep my mind off of him, but it was difficult. I visited him every day for one month, I spent the night on weekends.

So this is what it feels like…. I found a new respect for my friends for being so strong during my battle with cancer. This was hard enough…

It was exactly one month, two weeks, and six days. A Saturday, around 10pm. I was muddling over a project I had to do, when I heard a soft noise. I looked up to see his expression change and I nearly had a heart attack. I was at his side and he groggily looked up at me with the most confused expression while I was on my cell phone and jabbing the nurse button. Red was there a few minutes later. Axel didn't talk; he just stared up at me with those radioactive green eyes of his. The nurse began asking him a lot of stupid ass questions, starting with the extremely slow, "Do you know who you are?" each word was a sentence.

He looked even more confused, eyes darting around the room. "No…"

"Do you know who they are?"

She gestured to us, and I nearly cried when his answer was the same. Red's grip on my shoulders tightened slightly, making me aware that I wasn't alone; he'd known her for years.

"Do you know where you are?"

"A hospital?" he guessed.

"What is the date?"

He got it wrong; it was the day he crashed that he listed off.

"What is the last thing you remember?"

He looked confused, "a car."

This went on for an hour, he didn't recognize anyone, but seemed to remember basics. He remembered a calculation, a house, or a building. But he couldn't seem to recall anything with a solid identity, himself being one of them. The doctors said he had amnesia, and it would slowly go away or he'd build up new memories to replace the ones he lost. It was critical he took it easy and wasn't stressed about it.

I was terrified. He didn't remember me…. Would he still love me? Could he love me again? The pessimism made me antsy. Red had to tell me over and over that Axel would fall in love with me all over again, but I was scared regardless. What if he _didn't_? What if he wasn't even gay anymore? The thought was absolutely horrifying. I didn't think I could make it without Axel.

A few days later he was discharged. It was over the weekend and Red drove him home, winter break had finally rolled around and I was happy to stay with him again. When he walked in the door he looked nostalgic, running his fingertips over the walls and few objects near his pathway to his room. I followed him as Red locked up and called people to make sure they weren't going to throw a party or something stupid that would confuse and scare the already freaked out redhead.

You'd be freaked out too if you were being led around by complete strangers.

I followed him into his room quietly, he was sitting on his bed and turning his head to looks around the room in the most dumbstruck expression, had it been any other situation, I would have laughed. "This is my room…" he said in declaration.

"It is," I confirmed.

"Is it… your room too?"

"Only if you let me."

"And I do let you?"

I shrugged, "depended on how late you came home, I tended to fall asleep on the couch waiting for you."

He nodded to himself, eyebrows drawn as he fought to remember. "Okay…"

He stayed like that, and I tried to smile. "Axel?"

No response.

"Axel?" I walked up to him and touched his shoulder. It nearly broke my heart when he flinched away from me.

"Oh yeah, that's my name isn't it?"

I nodded. "Do you want anything? Soda? Sandwich?"

"My memory, but I don't think that comes in a box," he said half heartedly.

I chuckled, even with amnesia he still had his quirky attitude. That's good. Red came back in, pulling a sticker off it's backing and slammed it on his chest. She turned to me, doing the same to me and herself.

I looked down at Axel's cheerful black and red 'Hello my name is' tag. His name was written across it neatly in block letters. The same for me and Red. He smirked at it, "That makes it easier to remember your names I guess."

She smiled and went back to her phone conversations as I made out the whining of at least four girls on the other end, sighing heavily and saying "No." over and over to them.

"How do I know her?"

"You've questioned that many times," I replied with a smile. "You met her in aerobics a few years back."

"I took aerobics?"

"Yes you did, unwillingly at first."

"How did I meet you?" I thought of the last real conversation we had had.

"You joined cheerleading to meet me; I was a girl to you then."

"You're a cross-dresser?" His lip twisted slightly.

"I was," I corrected. "Seems like a long time ago, but I stopped hiding because of you."

He nodded. "Alright, so…" I dreaded the topic he was about to question. "Why are you here? Are you Red's boyfriend?"

Laughter bubbled out of my throat at the last part, "I wouldn't date Red if they castrated me. No. I'm gay." I was dead serious about the castrating. Red may be rather masculine for a girl at times, but it didn't change the fact I was gay and she had a vagina. Amusingly, she was just as disgusted by it as I was.

He looked away, slowly registering what I was saying. "I don't get it." Or not.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just… a really, really good friend of yours."

"Why do I not believe that?" He asked softly.

"Because you're a moron?" I offered.

"Yeah, we'll go with that," he said with a wide smile.

For the next couple of days Axel wandered around the apartment, slowly remembering things about himself. His pyromania, favorite games, tastes in food, T.V., and music… but still struggled with people. He seemed to be picking up a few emotions from some objects as well, particularly the medal I hung on the back of the door. I had given back all of them but his and the extra one Yuffie gave to me even though I hadn't competed myself. He took his off the wall and stared at it for hours on end, walking around with it in his hand, but never asked.

Needless to say, I hated it when he went to sleep. I had this phobia he wouldn't wake up, and so I became a nighttime person. I would stare at him while he slept if it wasn't so damn creepy, I did have a habit to check up on him though. One night made my heart skip a beat, he was talking in his sleep, something he doesn't usually do… and he said my name. Some muffled words he said after that confirmed that he _did _still have the memories, but he couldn't connect to them. It gave me hope.

The words were my name, cancer, trust, day, and last.

'Live everyday like your last,' I remembered the phrase well, but there was little way for him to know that. I'd never mentioned the cancer much less my trust in him during the battle with it… meaning the memory was there… but when he woke up, he didn't remember anything. The dream, the words, and the memory faded back into the distant part of his mind.

Then one day, he remembered Red. She was in her room, dancing to the song 'Stranger' by Hilary Duff, an invisible microphone in her hand as she danced away, lip synching perfectly. He just stood in the doorway and cocked his head to the side and asked, "Nate call you again?"

Needless to say she was surprised, he just looked confused. "No…"

"You need to stop thinking about him, go with Duncan; he's not a whoremonger." He seemed confused by the words coming out his mouth.

She blinked in confusion, "You remember all that?"

He looked around, "vaguely..."

She smiled softly. "That's good! Try to remember something else," she attempted.

He tried and failed. "I can't… I'm sorry."

"It's okay Axel, I'm sure Nate appreciates the fact the first thing you remembered about him was that he was a douche bag."

He smiled at her, "I don't who he is."

"You don't need to," she said happily. "Where's Roxas?"

Standing in the hallway. "I don't know…"

"Go tell him, I'm sure he'll be happy."

"Hey Red?"

He walked inside her room and shut the door. I don't know what they talked about, but he seemed alright afterwards, looking down at me with a smile. "Hey Roxas."

"Hey Axel."

Winter break was thankfully two weeks. By the first week, the name tags came off. He blanked out sometimes, but he generally got our names, so we decided to take him outside the house. It was a cheer meet, and the graduates and a few others were all there and more than ready. Red walked in first to make sure they weren't going to attack him and remain calm.

She popped her head back out and said it'd be a few minutes.

They were having a party. I knew it… I sighed and led Axel to a bench near the gym to sit down. He didn't seem bothered by being close to me. I knew it wasn't right to pry, but I was curious.

"You remembered Red?"

"A little…" he said softly. "I have no idea who the people I said are though."

He'd see them in a few minutes; even Nathan, and Chris were coaxed into showing up for Axel's sake. Ducnan didn't have to be coaxed; he was there early, wanting make a good impression. Even though Nate wasn't too thrilled with Axel, and Chris was terrified of him; they showed up for identities' sakes. All the cheerleaders were overjoyed to see him again, being banned from the apartment while he tried to remember his own name. Red was probably passing out nametags.

"What did you two talk about?"

He paused, "you."

"What about me?"

"Me and you, which reminds me…" now there's a laugh. "You lied to me."

"I did not," I said in defense. Never once did I lie to him.

"You said you were just my friend…"

Well there's that. "I didn't get into the details because I thought you'd distance yourself from me."

He seemed confused. "Why?"

I sighed. Don't ask me all this _now_. "I was scared okay? It took a while before you could decide to even give me a chance."

"But…" He started, but paused, looking away slightly.

I looked up at him curiously, "what?"

"I think, I loved you."

Loved? As in past tense? Oh god. "Okay," I said dumbly.

"yeah…" he said weakly. "I _think_ I did anyway, I was asking Red if I did."

"What did she say?" I asked softly.

"She told me that I'd figure it out."

I swallowed. "Okay," I repeated, scared out of my mind.

Red came bounding out of the gym and took Axel's hands in hers, he looked a little nervous as he was lead away to the door and inside. Red broke away when a few people jumped over to him, literally bouncing and repressing squeals. This was as calm as they could get. I'd never seen Axel scared before, and he looked a little freaked out by a few tiny girls in skirts. There was glitter on the floor, the only evidence of the party Red dismantled.

She put a hand on my shoulder and I flinched. "Are you okay Roxas?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I said quickly. "I think. I don't know…"

"What happened?"

"The inevitable," I muttered. "He said he _loved_ me. Past tense Red," I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her slightly, chocking the words "PAST TENSE."

She put her hands on mine, "It's OKAY. It's a good thing Roxas. A _good _thing, it means he's remembering you. Give him time, he was crazy about you… literally. It'll be okay."

I nodded weakly, "okay…." Wow I'm saying that a lot.

Red wandered over to the few guys and separated them from the group. Riku, Sora, Nathan, Chris, Duncan, and Squall. She stood them in front of the confused redhead and they all greeted him slowly, calming him back down. He frowned at Nathan, "I don't like you."

He shrugged. "It happens." He smiled, which seemed to irritate him further. I'd only met Nathan a few times, but he was a pretty whimsical guy, not really taking Axel seriously for some unknown reason that could be mistaken as bravery… personally I think he's just retarded.

Axel just glared at Chris as Duncan chattered away with him. My brother looked out of place, Riku looked bored, and Sora looked happy. Chris looked horrified and meandered away to seek a quiet place to amuse himself with his thoughts… god. He makes Nathan look a saint.

I joined Axel's side, brushing against him to let him know I was there. To my surprise, his hand slipped into mine and squeezed. I squeezed back, not taking my eyes off the guys. Riku winked at us, Sora just grinned. Squall just looked awkward, I smiled up at him. He smiled and apologized, saying he had to be somewhere. God I love my brother.

The girls broke out the music, the song Break The Ice by Britney Spears remixed with Get Low, played and they all formed a circle, forming a rough line and cheerleading to it. Riku sighed and joined them, Sora watching in the sidelines. I snickered as he picked up perfect sync and tugged on Axel's hand. I broke away and took Riku's side, it was a championship routine from last year, and we all knew it by heart.

Don't blame me for the song, but I was extremely surprised to see Red jump in beside me. She smiled and roughly followed our motions, improvising in few places but since she was dead center it looked okay. Duncan looked overjoyed, Chris looked SHOCKED, and Nathan like he'd seen a ghost. It became apparent that they had never seen her dance before, much less cheer.

I doubt they'd noticed the cheerleading trophy and medal from when she was in middle school sitting on the top of her bookshelf. I have to admit, she was doing okay for someone who had never practiced in the team. Axel was grinning hysterically when the songs switched in the remix, Riku taking stage and Sora bouncing and clapping. A cheerleader for the cheerleader. Funny, I couldn't help smiling. Before long it was over, the girls calmed down and Axel was back with me. He was just smiling. "Looks like you had fun."

"It is, it's why you became a cheerleader the second year, we just started working on the routine, Riku's captain this year." I hadn't cheered since the accident. I was really behind, but I'd pick it up soon.

"Really?"

"Our captain that year was Larxene actually," the blonde waved to Axel at the sound of her name. "Yuffie was last year."

She did the same and suddenly, there was a cake. Red groaned.

Axel actually laughed. I was surprised at this, he looked so nervous, running a hand through his hair as cake was suddenly in front of him. "Wow, I'm getting cake and a live performance, feels like my birthday or something." He paused. "When is my birthday again?" His expression was priceless and I couldn't help it.

I laughed.

"No seriously, when is my birthday?"

I laughed harder, it was really bugging him. He looked so scared, confused, lost, overjoyed, and irritated. It was hilarious; I'd never seen so many mixed emotions at once.

"Roxas!" he urged in a whining tone, "come on!"

I finally managed to choke it out through my laughter, it was just so funny. It was the first time I'd truly laughed since he'd woken up. Axel huffed for a moment, "Is it really that far away?"

I nodded, managing to calm myself down, sniggering when I looked at him again. He turned his attention to the home baked cake that was placed in his hands. It was decorated with Sleeping Beauty and said "Wake up Sleeping Beauty".

He glared at them. "Who's idea was THAT?"

Kitty raised her hand, muffling laughter.

"BITCH," he huffed. "It better taste good."

"Who cooked it?" someone asked. Yuna.

"Larxene." A voice answered. Kitty.

There was a pause.

"It doesn't have rat poison in it does it?" the voice sounded like Kairi.

Larxene looked insulted. "NO!"

Axel chuckled and walked over to the table; being followed by girls would have passed off as a hoard of puppies had they ears and tails. The song 'Don't Get it Twisted' by Gwen Stefani blared in the background. A few danced but most chattered at the redhead. Who grew more comfortable with them, and even got a few of their names. Chris the only one who didn't get cake, avoiding Axel like the plague.

I was just surprised they didn't put something on Nathans, in defense of Red. She looked a little uneasy at his being there and the girls who didn't know picked up on why really quickly. I expected him to start vomiting while on the phone with his new girlfriend. Sadly, not even a sputter.

It was fun. Almost like there was nothing wrong. Although, it broke their heart when the janitors of the school bitched at us for setting off the school alarm system when we stayed to long and were forced to leave.

Going home was just as enjoyable, Axel was just yammering away about all the fun he had. The ride was filled with laughs… until he started screaming.

It was dark, a car was sitting at the red light as we crossed, and the headlights were on- shoving Axel's unstable mind into overdrive. He started freaking out; thankfully I was in the backseat with him. I grabbed him by his shoulders and trying to calm him down. He was hysterical, having an absolute breakdown, Red was thankful when we were through and getting closer to home. I managed to get him to stop screaming, reducing him to upset whimpers and heaving breathing. I followed my basic instincts and pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around him, "It's okay Axel, it's okay; I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'm here."

He was shaking like hell, squeezing me with a returned embrace and burying his face in my shoulder. I pet his hair and continued to talk to him, Red kept her eyes on the road, knowing if she suddenly slammed on the breaks or something, it would make him panic even further. He started apologizing for some reason, I couldn't figure out why, but I told him it was okay. Eventually he was just in tears and shaking, no longer rigid and panicking as he had been.

We couldn't make it home fast enough, Axel was a mess. Red called up a doctor for advice as I helped him relocate his room. He curled up with me on his bed and just sobbed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I cooed.

"I didn't…. I didn't want to hurt you… I didn't…"

"What are you talking about?"

"This has to be so hard on you both," he said weakly. "My just forgetting you existed… I can't… even imagine… I didn't… mean to hurt you… I didn't want to hurt you Roxas…"

I cupped his cheek in my hand, "It's okay Axel. It's not your fault…" I felt my tears building up, but I bit my lip and held firm.

"I just… want to stop… to stop hurting you…."

I shushed him, Red came into the room, dropping her annoyed expression. I gave her a pleading look, but she just rolled her eyes and shrugged. I turned my attention back to the sobbing redhead in my arms, and she left again. She knew it was best not to overwhelm him and give him space. Eventually he fell asleep.

Things went pretty much back to normal, Axel was a little jumpy for a while but it was okay. Red had to go back to work, leaving me with the redhead. For some reason, I was fixated on his words that night. "I just want to stop hurting you."

So he does still care, but I wanted to know… did he still LOVE me? I didn't want to push him, so I bit my tongue and held in the questions as we played video games together. They were all new to him again and he was so enthused with every one. Then one day, I got my answer.

"Hey Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

We were on the couch, the Playstation hooked up to the big flat screen and he paused his game; Magna Carta. "Do you still love me? Even though I don't remember you?"

I choked on the drink I was sipping at. Well_ that_ was blunt. "Uhhhhmm.." Well _this _was _fun_. "What?"

He set the controller down and turned to face me, one arm on the back of the couch behind my head. He completely absorbed himself in my presence, a serious and gentle expression on his face. "Do you still love me?"

Fuck em' all. "Why do you ask that?"

"Don't avoid it, just answer the question."

I laughed nervously; then gave up, setting my drink down on the table with his controller. "Uh…. Yeah."

"Doesn't that hurt you though? Wouldn't it be easier to find someone else?"

That irritated me, "hell no. I don't _want _anyone else. 'Someone else' can fuck themselves. I love YOU, not anyone else; I'd love you even if you keeled over."

He tilted his head slightly. "Yeah?"

I nodded firmly, then realized what I had said, in my defense, I had kind of blurted. I inhaled sharply when his hand slid down to fall around my shoulders and he smiled at me. "Thank you."

"Wha-?" I was cut off by the gentle touch of his lips to my forehead. I froze. If this is a dream, shoot me. I don't want to wake up.

"So that means you'll stay with me? Even if I never remember you?" I could feel his breath on my forehead, warm and perfect.

"Of course I'll stay," I muttered numbly. "I have no reason to leave."

He drew back and smiled. "There's a lot of reasons you _could_ leave and never give me a backwards glance."

"But I'd be a fucking idiot to do that."

"I'm a train wreck."

"Does it look like I care? Strait jackets are sexy," I argued.

He smiled and then drew away, looking away for a moment, snickering at the phrase after a moment. Before I could register him moving, I felt his lips touch mine. The kiss was soft and hesitant, his question and my answer. I'd have to have been insane not to return it. He softly pulled away, his forehead resting on mine, "I love you Roxas."

"I love you too Axel."

"Then you're crazy."

"I repeat, strait jackets are sexy. Don't doubt it for a minute Sexyback."

He chuckled at me. "If you say so."

I curled up to his side as we returned to normal, his picking up the game controller and restarting. I slipped into his arms and rested my head against his chest. We had to have looked kinda funny, but I really didn't care.

Then school started back up, with urging from the doctors, I took Axel. The school gave him the okay to have my schedule, and the teachers made sure not to separate us. We were the group of three if I needed help in group work. Axel's academic memory was solid, and being a super, super senior retaking most of his classes made him a desired element to any group. He sucked at history though, struggling to remember the names, but as soon as he heard the basics he caught back up. Being one month behind didn't faze him at all. The other members of the cheer team were overjoyed to see him, and the new friends I had met were just happy to _meet_ him.

Things weren't perfect, but they were good. It was nice. I didn't take it for granted.

Pieces came back to him occasionally, once while we were eating lunch he was talking to our group when someone in the lunchroom suddenly quoted a song, jumping up on a table and screaming the words: "WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION!!! WE DON'T NEED NO THOUGHT CONTROL! NO DARK SARCASM IN THE CLASSROOM! TEACHER LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE!" The screamer was backed up by anyone who knew the song and then was being dragged out by security. The lunchroom continued to sing the song lyrics loudly and in a strange, village of the damned unison. I was one of them, and Axel sighed. "Demyx never could keep his mouth shut."

"You can't have your pudding if you don't eat your meat! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!?" was the last thing that came from the lunchroom, Demyx managed to escape his captivity to yell the last words of the song. "Goodbye all you people! There's nothing you can say to make me change my mind! Goodbye!"

He was tased after that. Axel groaned. "I'm ashamed to say I know him…. And yet so damn proud."

I just laughed as he buried his face in his hands.

Spring rolled around. His amnesia had gotten a lot better… towards everyone but me. He still couldn't remember anything about me. Spring break I celebrated our one year of knowing each other…. Then Red started cleaning. We decided not to throw out anything for his memory's sake, but we did do a massive cleaning. I pulled a black sketchbook out from under his bed with a soft gasp, so that's where it went… Wiping the dust off of it I told him to sit down with me and take a break as we flipped through it.

The strangest thing happened. We made it all the way to the last picture; it was the one of me in my cheerleading uniform. He just took the book from me and stared at it, running a hand through his hair when he just blurted, "You never mentioned you had cancer."

I was shocked. Yeah, I never told him about the cancer. The subject had always bothered him. I died for three minutes on the operating table the day they managed to get it out; it's simple to see why this would make the redhead shudder at the word. Even the star sign bothered him after that. He looked at me, a strange look in his eyes. "You never mentioned it."

My breath was caught in my lungs. Did he-? "How…. How do you know that?"

He looked back at the drawing. "I remember…" He paused. "Oh GOD.…I was such a LOSER. _How_ did you put up with me?"

I tried to speak, but nothing came out. He remembered me. He fucking REMEMBERED me.

"Fucking A!" He suddenly blurted. "I was so LAAAAAAAAAME!"

It's true. The most he managed to say to my alias was 'so what did you think of the game? ... Huh…. I hated it."

Not much a team supporter.

Thankfully red was at work, because I just grabbed him by the shirt as he griped about how much of a dumbass he had been and kissed him, silencing him immediately. He was shocked by the sudden outburst of emotion from me, but kissed me when I broke away. And well…It got a little heated.

Making up for lost time you know.

Championships eventually rolled around and we were so happy to know we could join them. Or at least I was. Axel looked as Axel usually did when it came to cheering. The song was I Want You by Savage Garden. The entire event was extremely well choreographed, practice had gone on for over a month or two. At first it seemed simple and was easily underestimated, but as soon as that first chorus hit, the stunts took off. I was the only male flyer, being smaller lighter and better equipped for it, Axel was still my partner. Riku was paired with a new girl, a small thing named Namine' with a tremendous amount of talent after being Xed off the dance team after two years with them. It frankly, pissed her off, and she put her all into cheerleading as a result. My hardest stunt was when Axel and Riku worked together, I had help from Kairi and Namine' in it.

Basically, Axel and Riku did this nearly impossible, Matrix stunt they came up with one day. I have no idea where they got it, but it was damn awesome. They mirrored each other, and they had to be in perfect synchronizion for it to work. The stunt was for them to run from one end of the group to the other and meet in the center. It's hard to explain but they do a forward handspring and follow it with a perfect flip. It's insane because during the flip_, their_ _shoes touch_. Like… flatly. Shoe to shoe, perfect match up, if one moves even the slightest bit off course, they'd fall over or simply on their face, but when in perfect sync, they seem to defy physics and land soundly on their feet.

MY JOB… was to be catapulted into the air by Kairi and Namine and launched OVER them during this. I could do any basic air trick as long as I land on my feet.

That was the finale. It was insane.

I couldn't believe we actually pulled it off. Axel was exhausted and Riku was giddy afterwards. I was nervous as hell.

We won. So it was all good. Two years in a row! I had another medal to add to my collection.

Axel and I graduated and got accepted to a college in town. Squall was so proud but was merely enjoying my happiness. Axel's amnesia eventually faded off nearly completely, anyone who was around him a lot was remembered completely, but older friends took a minute… or days. It depended on how long ago it was. Red was happy to see us in class again, I eventually coaxed her to join the college cheer team.

Things were perfect.

XX-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-XX

HAHA. I didn't get Axel even CLOSE to killing over in this one.

In case you were wondering: Axel got hit dead on by a drunk driver in a silver pickup.

I like this one, it's written from Roxas's POV so it's a little different, I like it… but not as much as Every Day. Every Day was funnier. I tried to lace humor in this one, but with Axel out of commission it was difficult.

Yes. Demyx loudly sang the song "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd….. and got tased for it. He lost a bet.

Have any of you noticed?

(Roxas) Beddington= Chester Beddington from Linkin Park.

(Axel) Timberlake= Justin Timberlake.

(Demyx) Floyd= Pink Floyd.

I named them after song artists. LOL. Axel's nickname was Sexyback in this one. I had fun…

But now it's 3 going on 4 in the morning.

Night.


End file.
